Chef's leg ‘severed' in sword attack linked to debt, murder trial hears
Dylan Scannell went on trial yesterday charged with the murder of Ian Baitson in a Eurospar car park
A murder trial has heard that a 33-year-old chef sustained a 'catastrophic bleed' with his left leg being 'mostly severed' after he was attacked by a man with a sword in a car park in Cobh, Co Cork.
Dylan Scannell went on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork yesterday charged with the murder of Ian Baitson in a Eurospar car park on Newtown Road in Cobh in March 2024.
The 30-year-old denies murder. However, he has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Ian Baitson and his killer Dylan Scannell
News in 90 Seconds - May 28th
Mr Baitson, who was a father-of-two, died at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on March 19, 2024, four days after he was attacked in a car park about two minutes from his home.
He had told his mother Helen that he was going to the shop and would be back in a few minutes.
Shop worker Eric Thomas gave evidence that on the evening of March 15, 2024, a person ran in to the shop and told him that a man was injured in the car park.
When he went out he saw a man, whom he recognised as Ian Baitson, lying on his stomach on the ground.
He said that he and another man rolled Mr Baitson over. He noted that there was a 'lot of blood.' Mr Thomas said the left leg of the injured man was 'mostly severed.'
Dylan Scannell is charged with the murder of Ian Baitson. Photo: Cork Courts.
He and others present used a belt to make a tourniquet. They tried to stop the bleeding with bandages.
Meanwhile, another witness, Ron Ellis, said that he was parked in his car in the car park when he saw a man he didn't recognise arrive in a silver Octavia car. He said the car stopped by the bottle bank.
Mr Ellis noticed that the car music was 'blaring'. He stated that a man whom he did not recognise got out of the car holding a sword and then proceeded to strike another man with it.
'I was in shock. The man on the ground started shouting and roaring for help. He (the assailant) vanished and the person on the ground started shouting for help. I approached him and saw a lot of blood. I tried to call 999 but I became frustrated with the operator. I ran in to the shop for help.
'To say I was shocked would be a mild way of putting it. (The man) was in a lot of pain.'
A third witness emergency first responder, Liam Leahy, said he was in Eurospar when he heard someone say that a man outside was after having his leg chopped off.
He grabbed his first aid bag from his car and rushed to the assistance of the injured man. A German student also assisted at the scene. A tourniquet was applied.
Mr Leahy said he and the other men tried to stop a 'catastrophic bleed.' He told the court that he knew the situation was grave.
A doctor and two paramedic crews also attended at the scene. Dr Hugh Doran said when he arrived at the car park Ian Baitson was in cardiac arrest. He and the paramedics went to his assistance ventilating him with oxygen and giving him cardiac massage. Mr Baitson was then taken by ambulance to hospital.
Prosecuting counsel Donal O'Sullivan, SC, opened the case by giving the jurors an outline of the evidence in the case. However, he emphasised that this was not evidence in itself.
Mr O'Sullivan said that Dylan Scannell and Ian Baitson were known to each other.
'It appears that there was a debt owed by Ian Baitson to Dylan Scannell being paid off bit by bit over a period of time.'
It is alleged by the State that in the run up to the meeting on March 15, 2024 messages from Dylan Scannell to Ian Baitson became 'more threatening' in nature. Mr O'Sullivan said that the two men met in the back of the Eurospar complex at around 8.50pm with Mr Scannell allegedly getting out of a silver Skoda Octavia car.
'It is alleged that Dylan Scannell attacked and struck Ian Baitson with a sword causing his death. The person who carried out the attack left immediately in the car.'
Mr O'Sullivan alleges that in the aftermath of the attack, the silver car was driven to a beach area near the mall in the town. He said that the car stopped in the Connolly Street area right next to the harbour.
'Subsequently, gardaí carried out a search in the Mall, a shingle type beach, and a sword was found with a DNA match to Ian Baitson.'
The trial continues.
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Irish Independent
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Richard Satchwell convicted of murdering his wife Tina; sentencing to take place next week
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The Irish Sun
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Richard Satchwell listened to himself tell lie after lie but still only he truly knows what happened to wife Tina
RICHARD Satchwell cut a sad, lonely figure throughout his five-week trial in the Central Criminal Court. He rarely lifted his head 4 Richard Satchwell had pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife 4 Tina's remains were found at the couple's home in Youghal in 2023 Credit: Collect It was clear something didn't add up then, but it wasn't until we heard the full prosecution And it was harrowing stuff. The 58-year-old could do nothing more than try to hide his shame throughout the proceedings - especially as he listened back to 14 interviews he gave to television stations, radio stations, both local and national, and newspapers in the months that followed Tina's disappearance. Read more on Richard Satchwell He had to listen to himself tell lie after lie, spout repeated nonsense theories as to where Tina might be and what must have been going through his head as he watched himself put on an All the while One of the saddest things about this case is that Richard Satchwell put himself front and centre of this story from the outset and while Tina might not necessarily have been forgotten about, who she was, certainly was. Most read in The Irish Sun But these were all elements Richard Satchwell introduced into the case as part of his account of the life the couple shared together in the coastal town in rural Cork. Another account which came solely from the mouth of the murderer was the how and why Tina died. UNABLE TO DETERMINE CAUSE OF DEATH The long period from the day she died up to the moment So there was nothing to corroborate what he had to say and only he will truly know what happened between March 19 and 20, 2017. But it was years of public storytelling which probably sealed his fate because it was very hard to believe anything he had to say, even if his barrister Brendan Grehan tried to remind the jury that people lie for many reasons and he was not on trial for ACCEPTED HIS FATE Throughout the trial Satchwell looked like a man who had long since accepted his fate, knowing it would be very difficult to convince a jury of his version of events. And the guilty verdict will ensure only one sentence, which will give him enough opportunities to contemplate how winning the Lotto the day he met Tina, in his words, went so violently and tragically wrong. Hopefully before Mr Justice Paul McDermott gets around to imposing Satchwell's life sentence, we get to hear from her family and the person Tina was becomes a bit more central to this distressing case. 4 Satchwell told cops on March 24, 2017, that Tina had left the marital home four days earlier Credit: John Delea - The Sun Dublin 4 Throughout the trial Satchwell looked like a man who had long since accepted his fate Credit: John Delea - The Sun Dublin
